Photo Puppet Maintenance Advice

[hoopless]

Hi, I asked about this on the MR Photo Puppet Replicas board and was wisely recommended to ask you lovely puppet building types for some good advice.

My MR Kermit seems to be sort of malting, like little bits of the fleece seem to be balling off of him and it's a bit of a concern since he's kind of expensive and increasingly hard to replace. I don't handle him that much but he is left out on display. Is it normal for this sort of thing to happen and how can I minimise it and keep the little frog looking nice without having to hide him away. The last thing I want is to end up with a thread-bare skeleton.

Also does anyone have any advice on keeping Gonzo dust free in his purple tux?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

 

[shtick]

Hi, I asked about this on the MR Photo Puppet Replicas board and was wisely recommended to ask you lovely puppet building types for some good advice.

My MR Kermit seems to be sort of malting, like little bits of the fleece seem to be balling off of him and it's a bit of a concern since he's kind of expensive and increasingly hard to replace. I don't handle him that much but he is left out on display. Is it normal for this sort of thing to happen and how can I minimise it and keep the little frog looking nice without having to hide him away. The last thing I want is to end up with a thread-bare skeleton.

Also does anyone have any advice on keeping Gonzo dust free in his purple tux?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

The molting is probably because he's being handled too much. The friction between peoples hands and the fleece causes it to pill. With Antron fleece on real puppets the maintenance end involves shaving the pilly fleece, I don't know If I'd do that with a MR Kermit.

The dust on Gonzo can only be prevented by keeping him in a Lucite or glass display case when not in use. (These are very easy to build on your own, if you don't wanna buy one.)

What I recommend for both replicas is keep em in a display case if you wanna show them off without wearing them out. If you don't wanna show em off, put em in clear plastic bags.

 

[TML]

I keep the gold fabric that came in the box over mine when I'm not showing them off.

 

[TheCreatureWork]

Just a tip...
To trim the pile from the fleece use a pair of nail cutters. It'll get those buggers off but not cause too much damage to the fleece. Make certain the cutters are new and sharp or you'll be pulling the pieces off causing the fabric to raise even more.

Hope this helps

 

[hoopless]

A quick trim seems to have helped a lot. Think I need to put some money aside for making a case though. Been toying with the idea since I got them but it's just a distinct lack of pennies and the extra space a case would take up. How big do you think a case would have to be to display all 3 posers nicely (since I plan on getting animal some time before the year is out)